Access to Finance Advisor at TechnoServe Kenya

Main Activities and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership – Financial Landscape Analysis and Recommendations

• Conduct an assessment of the financial landscape impacting food system actors in Kenya including financial policy, regulatory, and lending landscape. Financial products are not exclusive to saving, deposits and or credit, may include (micro) insurance, etc.
• Analyze trends, challenges, and opportunities related to agricultural finance, including available financing products, eligibility criteria, and application processes
• Document key insights and recommendations in high-quality reports to inform the project's interventions

Stakeholder Interaction and Capacity Building

• Design and deliver training programs to build the financial management and access to finance capabilities of project staff, stakeholders, including to associations (as applicable), financial institutions (primarily MFIs and lower-tier banking institutions, cooperatives, grant recipients
• Facilitate interactive workshops, coaching sessions, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities to share best practices and lessons learned
• Develop training materials, toolkits, and other knowledge products for use by the project team and partners.

Financial Statement Analysis and Enterprise Assessments

• Working with the Grants Team and as applicable, review and interpret financial statements, business models, and cash flow projections for potential food system enterprises seeking grant funding
• Evaluate the creditworthiness, financing needs, and growth potential of enterprises (including producers and their organizations) to determine appropriate financing solutions
• Provide tailored advisory support to help enterprises navigate the process of accessing loans, equity investments, or grant funding.

Program Management: Technical Integration and Knowledge Management

• Collaborate closely with the technical integration team to incorporate access to finance insights and strategies into the project's interventions
• Document innovative financing models, case studies, and lessons learned through reports, presentations, and other knowledge products
• Represent the project in external meetings, conferences, and stakeholder forums related to agricultural finance and food systems and or as directed by the COP or DCOP.

 Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting:

• Work with the Monitoring and Evaluation, and CLA unit to document and disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and project impacts to inform future initiatives especially in access to finance
• Collaborate with the M&E team to monitor and evaluate program progress.
• Support or contribute to knowledge management activities including writing articles on project developments, learning or opinion pieces.

Innovation and Best Practices:

• Develop innovative approaches to enhance TechnoServe's work and share these innovations to promote the adoption of best practices within the organization.
• Perform other related duties as required to contribute to the program's success.

Basic Qualifications and Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, Development Studies, Agricultural Economics, or other relevant field of study. Master’s degree preferred.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or hold an equivalent professional accounting qualification e.g., ACCA, will be an added advantage,
• A minimum of  (5) years of experience in one or more of the following areas: finance, agriculture, agribusiness, SME finance, rural financial services, and adaptation to climate change.
• Demonstrated track record of building and managing strong client and stakeholder relationships, including with financial institutions and other market actors.
• Minimum of four (4) years of experience in the microfinance/banking sector, financial and or grants management, with the ability to review, analyze and interpret budgets, financial management systems; financial statements (including income and expenditure statements and cash reconciliation statements) and audit reports.
• Demonstrated organizational and project management skills.
• An understanding of gender and rural and/or financial services markets.
• Analytical and communication skills with proficiency in the development high caliber reports and documents.: proven ability to develop strategies and conduct analysis on complex commercial questions
• Willingness to travel extensively within the project’s zone of influence,
• Exceptional interpersonal and cross-cultural skills
• Fluent user of MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in the project’s zone of influence an added advantage
• Proven experience with the Kenyan agricultural and livestock policy environment at the national and county level.